The present invention relates to a phototherapy device, and more particularly, it relates to a phototherapy device which is suitable for a pressure pain point therapy or trigger point therapy as a household health therapy device.
It has been known that a pressure pain point where pain is felt by applying pressure thereto, and a trigger point as a pressure pain point which causes related pain, exist in a skeletal muscle, a tendon of a skeletal muscle, articular capsule, ligament, periosteum, skin or the like, and by stimulating these points, an effective therapy for pain can be carried out. As a method of stimulating the pressure pain point or trigger point, stimulation by injection of medicine or acupuncture has been practiced as the trigger point therapy, and experimentally, an irradiation of low power laser has been carried out.
However, in the conventional trigger point therapy as described above, although the therapy is effective, only an expert can perform the therapy, and it is impossible to perform the therapy at home.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a photo or light therapy device for a pressure pain point therapy and a trigger point therapy which can easily and safely stimulates the pressure pain point or trigger point at home, to thereby achieve the same effect as in the conventional trigger point therapy.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
To achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a phototherapy device for a pressure pain point therapy or a trigger point therapy to be used by contacting the device on a user""s body. According to the first aspect of the invention, in the phototherapy device for a pressure pain point therapy or trigger point therapy of the invention, a light source for therapy is formed of only one LED (light emitting diode), and a projection portion for searching a pressure pain point or trigger point projects from a case for accommodating or holding the LED, which is located on an optical axis of the LED.
According to the second aspect of the invention, in the phototherapy device for a pressure pain point therapy or trigger point therapy as stated above, the projection portion can be formed on a package itself of the LED, which projects from the front surface of the case.
According to the third aspect of the invention, it is preferable to provide a display light for confirming an operation on a surface of the case, which is different from the surface from which the projection portion projects.
Further, according to the fourth aspect of the invention, in case the present invention is used as a therapy or treatment of the joint, a projecting amount or length of the projection portion from the front surface of the case is preferably set in a range from 0.3 mm to 3 mm. Also, according to the fifth aspect of the invention, in case the present invention is used as a treatment of a stellate ganglion, the projecting length of the projection portion from the front surface of the case is preferably set in a range from 10 mm to 30 mm.
Incidentally, although an output wavelength of the LED of the invention is not specially limited, infrared ray including near infrared, and visible light can be preferably used.
In the present invention, only one LED as an inexpensive point light source is used, and by locally irradiating an output light of the LED to the pressure pain point or trigger point, a stimulation is given to these points. At the same time, the pressure pain point or the trigger point to which the light should be irradiated can be easily found by using the projection portion projecting from the front surface of the case on the optical axis of the LED, and a user can proceed to a phototherapy immediately.
Namely, in case the light source is formed of only one LED, if the output light of the LED is locally irradiated to the portion of the user""s body, an apparent difference in an amount of irradiation of the light appears between an irradiated portion of the user""s body and an adjacent region around the irradiated portion, so that the effective photic stimulation can be provided to the irradiated portion. Accordingly, it has been proved that there is a high therapeutic effect with respect to the pressure pain point or trigger pain point as described later.
Here, in the LED used as the light source for therapy in the invention, there can be utilized an output light power which has a large broadening angle in the outgoing light and is the same as that of a laser used for the lower power laser therapy. Namely, it has been confirmed that in both laser and LED, after light for the therapy is irradiated onto the human body, the light is scattered to tissues inside the body, so that the light is largely supplied in substantially the same state. Therefore, even if the LED is used as the light source, the same effect as in the lower power laser therapy can be expected.
Then, by utilizing the fact that the pressure pain point or the trigger point is a portion where a pain is felt apparently different from that around the portion when the portion is pressed, if the projection portion projecting from the front surface of the case along the optical axis of the LED is pushed against the body and moved, the pressure pain point or the trigger point as the point which needs the therapy can be easily found by relying upon the pain felt. Then, the user can proceed to the phototherapy immediately.
In the second aspect of the invention, it is useful to utilize the package of the LED as the projection portion in view of simplifying the structure of the phototherapy device to lower the cost thereof.
Also, in the phototherapy device of the invention, the LED as the light source of the device faces the front surface of the human body in use, and in addition, in case the near infrared light or the like is used as the LED, turning on and off of the light can not be perceived by the human eyes. Thus, as in the third aspect of the invention, it is extremely preferable in view of the safety to provide a display or the like on a surface of the case different from the surface from which the projection portion projects, that is, another surface different from the surface in which the LED is disposed, to thereby realize the condition of tuning on and off.
Then, in case the phototherapy device of the invention is used for a treatment of the joint, it is effective in searching a pressure pain point or trigger point existing in soft tissues among complicated hard and soft tissues to form such that the projecting amount of the projection portion from the front surface of the case is 0.3 mm to 3 mm. Also, in case the phototherapy device of the invention is used for a treatment of the stellate ganglion, it is very convenient in searching the pressure pain point or the trigger point existing in an inner side of a muscle near a neck bone to form such that the projecting amount of the projection portion from the front surface of the case is 10 mm and 30 mm.
Incidentally, in the present invention, the projection amount or length of the projection portion from the front surface of the case is not limited to the aforementioned range of 0.3 mm to 3 mm and the range of 10 mm to 30 mm, and in case a portion other than the joint or stellate ganglion, for example, a muscle, is treated, it has been confirmed that the phototherapy device is handy if the projection portion projects in a length of 3 mm to 10 mm.